The healthcare industry has entered 2026 with a variety of changes underway. Yes, medical facilities are facing age-old compliance and data security challenges – but they’re also building towards AI breakthroughs, medical IoT, and other innovations.
In all of these areas, organizations can improve performance by focusing on a single variable: connectivity.
In this article, we’ll explain how managed internet and cloud services enhance connectivity for healthcare facilities, allowing for a tech-enabled future.
The Unique IT Needs of Medical Facilities
In the healthcare industry, decision-makers understand that every IT decision has a direct impact on people’s lives. They’re also handling large amounts of sensitive data – data that, by law, must be kept safe.
In this environment, some core concerns arise:
- Improving patient care. Only 44% of Americans consider their country’s medical care to be “excellent” or “good” – a figure that’s been dropping for decades. The need for improvement is urgent, and technology can help. AI solutions and IoT devices are already revolutionizing many aspects of patient care – from smart, IoT-connected medical devices to robotic tools for surgeries. To maximize the benefits of these technologies and win back the trust of patients, the right IT infrastructure is essential.
- Boosting operational efficiency. With their size and complexity, healthcare facilities often face inefficient workflows and inadequate resource management. That means doctors and nurses lack the internal systems necessary to quickly share information, and staff members fail to properly stock and distribute essential medical supplies. Not only does this waste money, but it also produces negative patient outcomes.
- Maintaining Regulatory Compliance. According to laws like HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), medical facilities must meet certain standards in their efforts to keep patient data safe. This becomes more challenging in the AI era, as “smart” devices risk exposing sensitive data and infringing on government regulations. By redoubling their focus on security, healthcare organizations can more safely capitalize on AI’s remarkable potential to boost efficiency and improve patient care.
Enhancing Connectivity to Improve Patient Outcomes
In the digital era, connectivity is only as strong as its underlying infrastructure. When a hospital or clinic strengthens its IT foundation, it enables real-time collaboration and helps keep essential medical devices online.
Here’s a breakdown of connectivity-enhancing solutions for healthcare facilities.
Managed Wi-Fi
The best managed Wi-Fi services are scalable and comprehensive. Technicians conduct custom installations across the facility, both inside and outside. Then, they fully manage the equipment while providing 24/7 network support.
Cox Business, a premier supplier, specializes in this type of managed service, and its solutions were built with healthcare facilities in mind. They can also build separate networks for staff and visitors, allowing facilities to provide top-level care while maximizing convenience for patients and their families.
Private Networks
Private networks can expand coverage area, increase mobility, and enhance security. They also reduce latency and boost reliability, which is essential in innovative healthcare settings. With a private network enhancing public cellular to improve staff and patient use, the facility will reduce its reliance on WiFi – an upgrade that can save lives.
Cox Business specializes in creating custom private networks for healthcare facilities. These networks are optimized for security from design to deployment, and they’re offered as a turnkey solution, acting as a bridge between more traditional network mediums and a facility’s specific use cases.
Voice Solutions and Contact Center
When someone calls a healthcare facility, they’re more than just a “customer.” They’re a patient or a loved one, calling about one of the most delicate situations in their lives. In such a setting, voice solutions and contact center technology are especially essential.
With a comprehensive suite of unified communications and voice solutions, medical facilities can manage phone, video, fax, and messages in a single cloud-based app. These systems often feature end-to-end encryption and role-based access – essential for protecting patient data and maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Employing Cloud Services to Boost Efficiency
Effective cloud services help medical facilities handle large amounts of patient data while streamlining complex IT tasks. This allows hospitals and clinics to focus on what matters most: providing patient care.
Here are some of the specific cloud solutions that can revolutionize a facility’s IT environment.
Cloud Hosting
Intelisys suppliers offer customizable cloud hosting for both Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and applications. These hosting services can include security measures that meet HIPAA standards, and they may be certified in HITRUST, ISO 27001, and PCI-DSS while meeting the necessary standards to pass SOC 1 and SOC 2 audits.
RapidScale, a Cox subsidiary, is uniquely well-placed to provide cloud hosting for healthcare facilities. It’s one of Broadcom VMware’s few remaining “Elite” partners, and its services were built to meet the healthcare industry’s strict security needs.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure allows staff members to access applications from any device, at any time. When doctors, nurses, and administrators enjoy this type of access, the capacity for instant collaboration increases – and patient outcomes improve.
VDIs can also integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and Teams, so there’s no need to learn new applications. Staff can keep using the platform they know and love, now with enhanced accessibility.
Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Cloud services often come with top-of-the-line data backup and disaster recovery features. This is important in any industry, but it’s especially critical in healthcare, where outages can be deadly, and where leaks produce both massive fines and reputational devastation.
Cloud service providers can achieve Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) of as low as 2 hours, and they can measure Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) in minutes, rather than hours.
Integrated AI and ML
As part of their advisory services, cloud technicians can help incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into a facility’s IT infrastructure. There’s a reason these technologies are top-of-mind for leaders across industries: They have incredible potential.
AI and ML are adept at analyzing large data sets, identifying hidden patterns, and extracting valuable insights. These insights help hospital administrators optimize resource allocation and send supplies to where they’re most needed.
AI can also analyze a patient’s medical records to identify patterns and predict illness, allowing doctors to administer essential preventative care.
Additional Measures to Bolster Security and Compliance
For healthcare facilities, cybersecurity measures aren’t just a “good idea.” They’re an ethical and legal requirement. IT solutions can help facilities protect data while maintaining compliance with HIPAA and other governmental regulations.
Private LTE and 5G Networks
Private cellular networks (LTE and 5G) don’t just improve connectivity by dedicating bandwidth to especially critical usage, although this is a major benefit. They also provide secure communication channels for IoT and medical devices.
SOC and NOC Services
Some internet providers offer enterprise customers 24/7 support, including Security Operations Center (SOC) assistance and Network Operations Center as a Service (NOCaaS). Technicians will monitor a facility’s network for threats and issue proactive alerts when they detect an acute vulnerability.
This cybersecurity support gives administrators peace of mind, freeing them up to focus on job-specific tasks. Even more critically, it keeps sensitive data safe.
Risk Mitigation for End Users
An estimated 95% of all data breaches are caused by human error. Healthcare facilities can address this by offering cybersecurity training for employees, teaching them to adhere to norms and expectations.
Enterprise internet providers can assist in these efforts by offering employee training. They can also conduct end-user risk scoring to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. Together, these mitigation efforts significantly boost data security while helping to ensure compliance.
Enhanced Connectivity: A Path to Further Innovation
Updated internet infrastructure can do a lot more than solve existing problems and enhance near-term efficiencies. It can also unlock an innovative future, allowing medical facilities to implement tech-forward solutions with revolutionary impacts on patient care.
Here’s what the future could hold for a medical facility that acts to enhance connectivity:
- Telehealth Growth. For a medical institution to offer telehealth, it needs fast, reliable internet. With a reliable network in place, doctors can provide HD video consultations while accessing patient records in real time.
- EHR Optimization. With a cloud-hosted system, facilities can more securely and efficiently access electronic health records (EHRs) while sharing data across locations.
- Increased Use of AI and IoT Devices. IoT technology is already transforming the healthcare industry, especially in the area of wearable devices, and AI will only bring further innovations. But for organizations to maximize the potential of these new technologies, they need fast, reliable networks that were built for dynamic environments. Give these facilities fast internet today, and they can use medical IoT to improve patient outcomes tomorrow.
Additional Resources
For more information, see this flipbook from Cox Business: Co-Managed Services for Healthcare Institutions.
At Intelisys, we’re committed to enhancing connectivity and providing transformative IT solutions for tech-forward medical facilities. More resources are coming soon.